BASKING sharks moving northwards and large warm-water jellyfish appearing off Dorset's shores point to changes in local waters. Warmer seas and pollution are affecting the fragile marine environment and pollution watchdog the Environment Agency is calling
THREE independent Dorset schools are among 50 across the UK which could be fined millions of pounds after being accused of collaborating to fix fees. Bryanston School in Blandford, Canford School in Canford Magna and Sherborne School in Sherborne, which
IN A MOVE that has surprised many who thought they knew her, a Dorset-based mother-of-two is this week appearing on Parkinson to talk about her love life, family and career. Mrs Ritchie, 47, who lives in a secluded country house near Shaftesbury, stunned
POLICE and council officers will meet next week to thrash out ways to tackle boy racers and anti-social behaviour on Bournemouth's East Cliff. The council's cabinet agreed that ward councillors should also be present at the multi-agency meeting which
A JET-skier jailed under merchant shipping laws after injuring a father of two in a collision must wait for the outcome of his Appeal Court bid to clear his name. In a unique test case, Mark Goodwin is also appealing against his sentence after he was
A BOURNEMOUTH woman lost nearly £22,000 when a plausible fraudster roared off in her BMW leaving her with a worthless cheque. Distressed Jeanette Robinson, proprietor of Baggies restaurant in Christchurch High Street said she and Lymington and New Milton
Bewitched (PG) Odeon (Wed only) *** Passably self-reverential update of the popular 60s TV sitcom. Bombon El Perro (15) UCI (Sun, Tues only) *** A man's luckless life picks up when he is given a pedigree Argentinian watch dog. The Brothers Grimm (12A)
EIGHTEEN years after he revitalised the buddy movie with his screenplay for Lethal Weapon, Shane Black makes his directorial debut with another self-penned, slickly engineered action-comedy. Only this time, Black indulges his fascination for pulpy detective
BLOOD may be thicker than water but it spills just as easily, especially when warring siblings are at each other's throats. In Her Shoes is a bittersweet portrait of two dysfunctional sisters, polar opposites in personal values and appearance, who cannot
HEAVILY tipped for Oscar consideration, and deservedly so, Fernando Meirelles' follow-up to the breath-taking City Of God is a romantic thriller with style and intelligence in abundance. The Constant Gardener is that rare form of filmic entertainment:
BLOOD may be thicker than water but it spills just as easily, especially when warring siblings are at each other's throats. In Her Shoes is a bittersweet portrait of two dysfunctional sisters, polar opposites in personal values and appearance, who cannot
EIGHTEEN years after he revitalised the buddy movie with his screenplay for Lethal Weapon, Shane Black makes his directorial debut with another self-penned, slickly engineered action-comedy. Only this time, Black indulges his fascination for pulpy detective
POOLE'S first synthetic ice-rink will be sliding into the town centre in February. The thrills and spills and free fun will take place in Falkland Square for the February half-term week, as part of a new special events programme. The town centre's first
DORCHESTER'S already lengthy injury list has got even longer. The Magpies travel to Farnborough in the Conference South tomorrow (3pm), with boss Mark Morris describing the situation like a 'scene from Emergency Ward Seven." "We were already without Mark
LOCAL companies which fail to implement new ideas face closure or being acquired within a decade - even major players are not immune, warns an innovation expert. "There are many businesses which implemented change, improved their business... and went
A WEYMOUTH dog lover and her prizewinning pooch are hoping to wow judges at the national Scruffts competition. Debbie Pizzie, who works at the Acorn Day Centre, Weymouth, and her pet shih-tsu cross German shepherd, Kizzy, are heading to Earls Court in
BRIDPORT'S Palace Cinema has been granted an entertainment licence which paves the way for its reopening. The 24-hour entertainment licence comes with conditions following a compromise with objectors from an old people's home in South Street. Objectors
WE WANT Waitrose! That's the plea from hundreds of shoppers who have signed a petition calling for the supermarket chain to take over the former Safeway store in Blandford. Retired businesswoman Noelle Adeley from Milton Abbas is launching the campaign
DESPITE Royal Mail's claims the postal service has improved residents say there are still problems. Most of the post sent out in an experiment by The Daily Echo two months ago arrived the next day. The Royal Mail gave figures showing 94.9 per cent of
THE operations director in overall charge of Bournemouth's trouble-hit bar Walkabout has been defending his company's record on dealing with problems of crime and disorder. David Turner, of Regent Inns, told magistrates about steps taken to try and resolve
DETECTIVES investigating the brutal murder and mutilation of a Bournemouth mother have made a desperate appeal for help on the eve of the third anniversary of her violent death. Heather Barnett was stabbed several times, hit over the head with a hammer-like
MEMORIES have been rekindled this week of "the two British armies who never seem to get a mention"... and the soldiers once nicknamed "the D-Day Dodgers". Roy Howlett was prompted to share his experiences of the Second World War after reading a letter
A PLAN to merge Dorset Police with five other forces stretching from the tip of Gloucestershire to Land's End in Cornwall has been slated as "ridiculous". The government has ordered the force to merge with others throughout the West Country to create
IF THE local MPs who helped inflict the massive defeat on Tony Blair's 90-day terror law thought they'd win support from their constituents, many are in for a rude awakening. In a series of street interviews with people of all ages and backgrounds, Daily
TRAGIC teenagers Mathew Myburgh and Charlie Morrell drowned after being swept away by the sea at Lulworth Cove, post mortem examinations have concluded. Inquests into the deaths of the boys were opened and adjourned in Bournemouth by District Coroner
HOW to create and keep housing affordable in Purbeck was just one of the issues discussed at a national conference led by a Dorset MP. Jim Knight, who represents South Dorset and is also rural affairs minister, talked about how the problem affected Studland
HEAVILY tipped for Oscar consideration, and deservedly so, Fernando Meirelles' follow-up to the breath-taking City Of God is a romantic thriller with style and intelligence in abundance. The Constant Gardener is that rare form of filmic entertainment:
IS this a lager which I see before me? What light through yonder Wimpy breaks? Shakespeare plays dragged into the modern day are nothing new, but setting Much Ado About Nothing (BBC1, Sunday, 8.30pm) in a regional television station was original. And
RESIDENTS in Canford Heath fear a housing development could release dangerous substances into the air. Developers Savills have put in a planning application for 130 homes on the plot of land between the Dorset Way, Verity Crescent and Mitchell Road. Nearby
A CONTROVERSIAL Poole road closure which has set neighbour against neighbour has been recommended to be made permanent. Coy Pond Road, Branksome, has been closed under the railway bridge for a six-month experiment, which has served to harden residents
GARRY Hill wants fans to help fire Weymouth towards the top of the Conference South table tomorrow. The Terras boss is urging supporters to turn out in big numbers for the visit of third-place Welling United at Radipole Lane (3pm). In a dress-rehearsal
A PROFESSIONAL boxer with a big name to live up to has set up a training camp in Weymouth to defend his Southern title. Ross Minter, 26, Southern area champion and son of former world middleweight boxing champion, Alan, will be pounding the pebbles on
CLASSY pop that doesn't demand too much from its listeners will always have a home, especially around Christmas when you're not quite sure what to buy your mate who used to be really picky about their music until they got a few promotions at work. (Oh
THE trouble with Marley's best-known stuff is over-familiarity and the iconification of the singer's image which has gone on since his death in 1981. It makes it impossible to separate his place in popular culture from the music he made. That said, these
NO MATTER how many times this stuff is repackaged, re-released and reheard, most of it never stops being absolutely essential. There are 57 tracks here on three CDs that cover pretty much every must-have Bowie moment. Space Oddity, Life On Mars, Ziggy
THE music of Kate Bush inhabits a time and space of its own which renders the 12 years since her last album, The Red Shoes, almost completely irrelevant. Aerial is both as brilliantly maddening as it is gloriously stunning. Who else could get away with
IT'S National Adoption Week and there are children in Dorset desperately looking for a home. Dorset County Council is supporting the week and using it to highlight the shortage of adoptive and foster families in the county. While many people considering
UNIVERSAL have gone bonk-ers recently with a swathe of interactive DVDs, and this one should be their banker, flushed by the film's success. The aim is to recuit clients for the pair's Antipesto business, and to do this players must complete a series
JEREMY Clarkson is an acquired taste. Kind of like Marmite. Anyhoo, what this means is, now matter how good Heaven And Hell might be, if you don't like Jez, you won't like the DVD. Which is a shame because there's plenty on here for both the petrolheads
A GRIEVING mother today appealed for help in setting up a memorial to her teenage son who died in the Lulworth double drowning tragedy. Christine Myburgh wants to see a permanent tribute to 16-year-old Matthew put up near the spot where he was swept to
COME ON now, I don't care how angry a person might be with the world, everyone loves the Muppets. Jim Henson had been playing with talking fuzzy-felt for a good 20 years before The Muppet Show finally arrived in the late '70s, and this season one box
DORSET Police believe going it alone as a force amid Government restructuring plans cannot be ruled out at this stage. A merger with neighbouring Hampshire instead of joining a regional force with other constabularies in the South West is also being explored
A DEVELOPER has been inundated with calls from people keen to snap up one of its proposed first-time buyer and key worker homes. Lomand Homes unveiled plans to build 109 homes on land off Edward Road, Dorchester, last month. If permission is granted the
Cooking With Elvis: Lighthouse, Poole Hull Truck theatre Company are back in Poole this week with this darkly comic stage play about a paralysed Elvis impersonator, his frustrated drunken wife and their fat and gluttonous daughter. Opens on Tuesday November
A PUB band may have found a novel way round council red tape in their bid to become record-breakers. Rockers Methane 57 plan to perform the same song in 30 venues around Weymouth to raise money for Children in Need next Friday and at the same time establish
HOUSE fires across Dorset have increased in the last 12 months, new figures have revealed. The number of fires so far this year in West Dorset has increased from 19 in 2004/2005 to 34, and in Weymouth and Portland from 15 in 2004/2005 to 20 so far this
A FUNDRAISING New Milton Lions Club member could be looking for a butcher's freezer to train for his latest expedition. Dave Hewson has trekked across the Sinai Desert, walked the Macmillan Way from Rutland Water to Abbotsbury and hiked a good chunk of
A CARING 20-year-old from Tuckton has given £1,000 to the Royal Bournemouth Hospital in memory of her grandfather who recently died of cancer. Christchurch Young Citizen of the Year Leanne Medhurst from Belle Vue Road has been cured of Hodgkin's Lymphoma
